CHENNAI: Rail commuters are demanding more unreserved coaches on Sapthagiri Express as it upgrades to modern LHB coaches from September 20. While the new coaches promise a more comfortable journey, the concern is a significant reduction in unreserved seating.

The conventional ICF rakes have 9 unreserved coaches, but this is reportedly being slashed to just 4 in the new LHB configuration.

This has alarmed regular passengers and advocacy groups, who argue the change is ill-suited for this specific route. Y Jayapaulraj, a former Divisional Railway Users Consultative Committee member, pointed out, “The Chennai-Tirupati route is a 152-km journey with many stops, making it highly popular with unreserved travellers. I’ve made a formal request to the Divisional Railway Manager to add more unreserved coaches to the new rakes.”

Echoing this sentiment, K Baskar, Tiruvallur Railway Passengers Association, warned that reducing unreserved coaches would cause overcrowding. “Unreserved ticket holders will be forced into reserved compartments, causing inconvenience for all passengers. Our appeal to Southern Railway is to reconsider the coach allocation to meet the high demand for affordable travel on this vital route,” he added.